to astrological signs.
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
Rabindranath Tagore
I’m fast approaching two years of writing this weekly blog and while I must admit some weeks it feels a little like throwing words out into an abyss where they may never be seen, I think ultimately you have to be happy with what it brings into your own life and enjoy those times when it does resonate with someone else. I’m grateful especially when someone takes the time to add a comment or share their own story and it always thrills me to see the list of countries from around the world that check in to read my posts.
I like going through my images and finding one that fits with my week. It adds another element to the editing process already full of thoughts like what will I print, what goes on my website, what will I share to social media?
Once I’ve made those choices it gives me peace of mind that my images are off of the card, into Lightroom, backed up on an external hard drive, and sent to Carbonite for an extra back up. Just in case something fails, and it will and it has!
I recently had a conversation with another photographer who unlike myself does not immediately go through the day’s images and make selections. I don’t find that to be a chore, I am excited to see them on a large screen and see if I captured the look that I was going for.
Do your images languish on your card inside your camera for weeks? What do you do to ensure the safety and longevity of your images?
And this week’s image? Well, more often than not I do find that it’s (almost always) about the water...and yes, I am a Pisces!
it's (almost always) about the water... 
One of the reasons why I quit blip was the rigour of finding/making/editing/posting a daily image. I do pick up the camera daily, and I have an idea of what photos will be the better ones among the bunch I’ve taken, but I also want the time and leisure to let them sit if need be…literally and figuratively. That is to say they can sit on the card for a week or so, and also they can sit in my mind and begin to stir a narrative. Once I dump the card to the computer, do the necessary culling and edits, that’s when posts truly begin to develop. But the process can’t be mechanical or subject to timelines, not if I want it to be truly reflective and organic. Honestly, I prefer what you’re doing – posting every week – versus the daily journaling I am still doing (though not necessarily, and in fact quite rarely, with photos taken on that day). Your journal is like a meal at a nice restaurant – a treat to look forward to. Mine feels like fast food…quickly digested and then forgotten.
You’re an inspiring photographer and painter and your journal is nothing like fast food, but that did make me laugh! When I chose the format of a weekly post it was because I figured that if I could post a photo a day for two years I could certainly write once a week. I admire that you can do it every day. It was hard for me to break free of the post an image every day routine but it was freeing to do so. I will admit that a lot of growth and understanding came from that practice though so I highly recommend it to those who haven’t tried it. Thanks so much for contributing to the conversation!
‘FastFood’? I don’t think so, Paula. Not by any stretch. 🙂
I have to admit I am guilty about not backing up my photos. I will do so very soon. Always love to see your photos and read your posts.
Thanks, Vicki! Backing up is an easy thing to put off doing because it’s sometimes challenging to get it set up to run seamlessly. Maybe one way to get started would be to have a folder for those really important shots and start placing images there to be backed up. External hard drives are pretty inexpensive now and you could begin by copying that folder to the new external drive.
I love looking at mine when I get home. I really enjoy the Photoshop process as well. I just wish I had more time to go out shooting. I plan to retire in less that four years, so that should change soon. I save very few shots. and the extent of my back-up is just to a cloud server.
Oh yea, I know one person that looks forward to your blog each week as well.
Your bird shots are amazing, they’d make an incredible book. I kind of have a two tier approach to editing in LR. “The pick shot” gets color coded and flagged and ones that have potential get put into the quick collection. The only time I am dealing with a volume of shots is usually an event like a meteor shower or northern lights where things change quickly. Glad you’re backing up to a cloud server, you have some gems!
I enjoy your Blog, Sheryl. I like that it is a weekly treat and not ‘another’ daily one. I like that it just ‘pops’ up in my mail, beckoning me to take a look, which I do even if I don’t comment regularly. I’m still enjoying Blipfoto, the posting of a photo a day part of it anyway. After 3 years I’m beginning to feel weighted down with the commenting and replying. Although I remind my self that I don’t really need to thank each and every person who ‘stared’ my blip…I struggle, time wise, to do so. All of that is a head thing (mine) of course. My Blip posts automatically go to Facebook, so at least my friends know I’m still alive because I very seldom visit them there in ‘person’.
As for the backing up of images. I upload the images to LR the same day, back up to an external HD probably once a week and use Carbonite for extra piece of mind. And after years and years and tens of thousands of photos, I’m finally learning to seriously delete what I just really shouldn’t keep. I mean really…who needs hundreds of photos of alligators or hummingbirds. Those images are not my ‘children’, they’re just photos. I too am a Water Sign…Cancer 🙂
Sounds like you have a good system in place too. The social aspect of daily posting was my biggest challenge but did I ever meet some great fellow photographers there. Ones that aren’t afraid to share and are confident in what they’re doing. Hard to find in the real world! Thanks for commenting, your photos are ones that I always enjoy! I rather enjoy harsh cutting of photos, you get to know what really works that way.
You see nature’s art with its secret palette.